A mounting assembly

ABSTRACT

A mounting assembly for an instrument or a machine to be panned, comprising two piston and housing assemblies, one assembly incorporating viscous drag and the other being for free panning.

0 Ui'iiiQfi States Patent 11 1 1 11 3,749,208 Miiier et al. 1 July 31,1973 MOUNTING ASSEMBLY 2,5;;,061 10/1951 Reynfiids 188/78);

. 1,4 ,569 8 1923 A 1 1 [751 lnvemorsl Eric Mine" Em 3,302,741 21967 Brz uk 188/271 x both of New South Wales, Austraha [73] Assignee: R. E.Milier Pty. Limited, New FOREIGN PA ENTS OR APPLICATIONS South Wales,Australia 478,063 1/1938 Great Britain 188/271 [22] Filed: Dec. 6, 1971v [21] AppL No: 204 898 Primary ExaminerG eorge E. A. Halvosa Attorney-David s. Kane, Martin E. (Joidstcin et a1.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 18, 1971 Australia 4915/71ABSTRACT [2%] 81. A mounting assembly for an instrument or a machine f?71 l 83 to be panned, comprising two piston and housing as- 1 e o "Tsembiies, one assembly incorporating viscous drag and 56 l ReferencesCite the other being for free panning.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 2,507,182 5/1950Young, Jr. 188/83 X MOUNTING ASSEMBLY This invention relates toimprovements in the construction of mountings for instruments andmachines which have to be panned.

It is well known in the construction of such mountings to providerelative movable members, usually a piston in a housing in which thereis a liquid, usually oil, the oil providing a viscous drag which can bevaried by using oils of different specification. The viscous drag isdesigned to give a panning speed to physical effort ratio which does notcause operator fatigue. If rapid panning is required from a mountingdesigned for slower operation, it may be accomplished by the use ofabove designed physical effort with resultant operator fatigue andstrain on the mounting support. The support may, for example in the caseof a tripod, become unstable thereby seriously affecting the smoothtravese of the equipment being panned.

It is the object of this invention to provide a mounting assembly forinstruments to be panned, the mounting assembly incorporating a unit ofknown viscous drag type and a lockable pan unit which can be in asubstantially drag free manner duplicate the panning movement of theviscous drag unit with which it is associated.

Accordingly the present invention provided a mounting assembly for aninstrument or machine to be panned, said mounting assembly comprising apiston assembly having two pistons coaxially joined by a stem, a firsthousing in which one piston is enclosed in a fluid tight manner, saidone piston being rotatable in the housing but not axially movabletherein, the working clearance between said one piston and its housingbeing such that a film of oil can exist therebetween to exercise aviscous drag when said one piston is rotated in its housing recesses inthe top and bottom of the other of said pistons, inserts in said recess,a second housing in which said other piston is mounted so as to berotatable but restrained against axial movement by the engagement ofsaid inserts on adjacent surfaces of the housing, adjustable means onsaid second housing to regulate the movement of said other pistonrelative to its housing and attachment means on both housings wherebythe housings can be respectively attached to said instrument or machineand a support for said mounting assembly.

The invention is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings inwhich;

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of an assembled mounting assembly andFIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the free pan part of theassembly illustrated in FIG. 1.

The mounting assembly 1 comprises a housing 2 having a shank 3 wherebythe whole mounting assembly can be secured on a support. The housing 2is closed at one end 4 and houses a rotatable piston 5 in a bore 6 withclearance between the piston and bore accommodating an oil filmproviding in known manner a desired viscous drag whenthe piston isrotated relative to the housing. The piston 5 has a recess forming anoil reservoir and an oil distribution plate 8 lies between the closedend 4 and the piston 5. The piston 5 has a stem 9 which projects througha cover 10 screwed onto the open end of the housing 2. The cover 10co-acts with a seal 11 in the housing open end and incorporates a seal12 which engages the stem 9 to retain oil in the cylinder 2.

The free pan unit indicated 13 (see FIG. 2) comprises a piston 14 with astem 15, which is co-axially fixed to the piston stem 9 by screws 16.The piston 14 comprises a body preferably of aluminium, and a pcripheralsleeve 17 preferably of steel although a solid body not sleeved could beused if desired. The piston 14 is rotatably housed with minimum workingclearance in a bore in a second housing 18 which is closed at one end asat 19 and has holes 20 therethrough whereby equipment to be panned canbe fixed to the mounting assembly. The sleeve 17 is longer than thethickness of the piston body so as to provide at the face of the piston14 adjacent the closed end 19 of the housing a recess in which acircular pad of fibre 21 is housed so as to stand slightly above thesleeve 17. The upstanding portion of the sleeve and the stem 15 providein the other face of the piston 14 a recess which is annular in shape.An annular fibre or felt pad 22 is housed in the annular recess so as tostand slightly above the sleeve 17.

A cover plate 23 is secured over the open end of the housing 18 by screw24 (only two are shown) and a seal 25 is provided in the end of thehousing 18. The distance between the end 19 of the housing 18 and theinner face of its cover plate 23 is only slightly greater than thelength of the sleeve 17 so as to substantially eliminate rock ofthepiston about the axis of rotation whilst allowing working clearancebetween the parts. To facilitate rotation of the piston 14 and eliminateany possibility of seizure between adjacent faces of the piston and itshousing 18 a smear a stable grease (not temperature affected, e.g.silicone base grease) can be used on the various parts.

A brake of known type, indicated 25, and comprising a shoe to engage theperiphery of the sleeve is provided to lock the piston 14 againstmovement relative to its housing or release it for rotation as required.A coarse thread brake control screw 26 is used to affect quickon-offaction of the brake.

We claim:

1. A mounting assembly for an instrument or machine to be panned, saidmounting assembly comprising:

a piston;

a cylindrical body having an encircling sleeve longer than the body andextending beyond both ends of the body so as to form a recess with theends of the body;

a stem co-axially joining the piston to the cylindrical body,

a first housing enclosing the piston in a fluid tight manner, saidhousing having an opening encircling said stem so that the piston isrotatable in the housing and not axially movable therein, said housingand piston being of such size so that a small working clearance isprovided therebetween;

a film of viscous fluid disposed in said working clearance to exercise aviscous drag when said piston is rotated in its housing;

attachment means on said first housing whereby the housing may beattached to the instrument or a support for the mounting assembly;

a second housing encircling said cylindrical body and sleeve and havingan opening encircling said stem;

inserts disposed in the recesses formed by the encircling sleeve and thebody, said inserts engage adjacent surfaces of the housing to preventaxial movement of the body and cylindrical sleeve;

attachment means on said second housing for attaching the second housingto said instrument or a support for said mounting assembly; and

adjustable brake means on said second housing for engagement with theperiphery of the sleeve to regulate the movement of said sleeve andcylindrical body relative to the second housing.

2. A mounting assembly for an instrument or machine to the panned, saidmounting assembly comprising a piston assembly having two pistonsco-axially joined by a stem, a first housing in which one piston isenclosed in a fluid tight mannerrsaid one piston being rotatable in thehousing but not axially movable therein, the working clearance betweensaid one piston and its housing being such that a film of oil can existtherebetween to exercise a viscous drag when said one piston is rotatedin its housing, a recess in the top and bottom of the other of saidpistons, inserts in said recesses, a second housing in which said otherpiston is mounted so as to be rotatable but restrained against axialmovement by the engagement of said inserts on adjacent surfaces of thehousing, adjustable means on said second housing to regulate themovement of said other piston relative to its housing and attachmentmeans on both housings whereby the housings can be respectively attachedto said instrument or machine and a support for said mounting assembly.

3. A mounting assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein saidinserts aremade of fibre.

4. A mounting assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said adjustablemeans is a quick acting brake.

5. A mounting assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the piston assemblycomprises two pistons each with a stem, the stems being secured one tothe other to join the pistons.

6. A mounting assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said other pistoncomprises a body with an encircling sleeve longer than the body andextending beyond both ends of the body so as to form with the ends ofthe body said recess.

7. A mounting assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said housings bothcomprise a body having a short cylindrical bore which is closed at oneend and sealed at the other end by a cover having a central openingencircling said stem.

8. A mounting assembly as claimed in claim 7 wherein at least the coverfor said first housing includes a seal associated with the opening insaid cover, said seal engaging said stem.

1. A mounting assembly for an instrument or machine to be panned, saidmounting assembly comprising: a piston; a cylindrical body having anencircling sleeve longer than the body and extending beyond both ends ofthe body so as to form a recess with the ends of the body; a stemco-axially joining the piston to the cylindrical body; a first housingenclosing the piston in a fluid tight manner, said housing having anopening encircling said stem so that the piston is rotatable in thehousing and not axially movable therein, said housing and piston beingof such size so that a small working clearance is provided therebetween;a film of viscous fluid disposed in said working clearance to exercise aviscous drag when said piston is rotated in its housing; attachmentmeans on said first housing whereby the housing may be attached to theinstrument or a support for the mounting assembly; a second housingencircling said cylindrical body and sleeve and having an openingencircling said stem; inserts disposed in the recesses formed by theencircling sleeve and the body, said inserts engage adjacent surfaces ofthe housing to prevent axial movement of the body and cylindricalsleeve; attachment means on said second housing for attaching the secondhousing to said instrument or a support for said mounting assembly; andadjustable brake means on said second housing for engagement with theperiphery of the sleeve to regulate the movement of said sleeve andcylindrical body relative to the second housing.
 2. A mounting assemblyfor an instrument or machine to the panned, said mounting assemblycomprising a piston assembly having two pistons co-axially joined by astem, a first housing in which one piston is enclosed in a fluid tightmanner, said one piston being rotatable in the housing but not axiallymovable therein, thE working clearance between said one piston and itshousing being such that a film of oil can exist therebetween to exercisea viscous drag when said one piston is rotated in its housing, a recessin the top and bottom of the other of said pistons, inserts in saidrecesses, a second housing in which said other piston is mounted so asto be rotatable but restrained against axial movement by the engagementof said inserts on adjacent surfaces of the housing, adjustable means onsaid second housing to regulate the movement of said other pistonrelative to its housing and attachment means on both housings wherebythe housings can be respectively attached to said instrument or machineand a support for said mounting assembly.
 3. A mounting assembly asclaimed in claim 2 wherein saidinserts are made of fibre.
 4. A mountingassembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said adjustable means is a quickacting brake.
 5. A mounting assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein thepiston assembly comprises two pistons each with a stem, the stems beingsecured one to the other to join the pistons.
 6. A mounting assembly asclaimed in claim 2 wherein said other piston comprises a body with anencircling sleeve longer than the body and extending beyond both ends ofthe body so as to form with the ends of the body said recess.
 7. Amounting assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said housings bothcomprise a body having a short cylindrical bore which is closed at oneend and sealed at the other end by a cover having a central openingencircling said stem.
 8. A mounting assembly as claimed in claim 7wherein at least the cover for said first housing includes a sealassociated with the opening in said cover, said seal engaging said stem.